The D Blog

Recently, John Miziolek, Co-Founder of Reset Branding was interviewed by Toronto's National Post writer Hollie Shaw about Tim Horton's brand issues. Tim Horton's has been attacked in the media, by employee's and franchisees over pay, benefits and operation costs. In the opinion of brand expert John Miziolek, the situation has not been handled properly by the iconic Canadian brand and is risking the delicate attachment Canadian's have with the Tim Horton's brand. Read more here.

Reset Branding specializes in strategic brand development and has worked with clients of all sizes, including Chapman’s Ice Cream, High Liner Foods, Hershey’s and Molson Coors. John Miziolek, one of the Founders of Reset Branding Inc., envisions the company as the most unique and innovative branding agency in North America. John is excited to announce this joint venture, saying “we have always focused on connecting brands with consumers and believe that Yelp Wifi is one of the cornerstones of the future of consumer engagement. Our joint venture with Falcon Retail expands our digital capabilities and creates innovative ways of engaging consumers. Yelp Wifi allows consumers to immediately connect with brands through their smart devices, encouraging the impulse to purchase.”

Barry MacDonald, President of Falcon Retail commented on the joint venture: “We’re excited to be part of this new venture with Reset Branding. Both agencies share a passion for utilizing new and emerging technologies to connect consumers with brands. Yelp’s core technology allows consumers to tap into free guest Wi-Fi while helping businesses re-engage those customers in the future in order to drive repeat visits and in-store sales.”

John Miziolek recently had the opportunity to sit down with David Usher on location in Montreal. David is the lead singer of the rock band Moist, he has sold millions of albums worldwide, has a best-selling book called "Let the Elephants Run" and has recently started presenting a great speech about creativity and the creative process. John and David met in 2015 at a Canadian Marketing Association event where they were both keynote speakers.

John and David talk about some really interesting things like David's passion for climate change, his belief in the creative process and naturally, music.

John Miziolek comments on Birks' repositioning strategy for The Globe and Mail.

John Miziolek, President and Co-founder of Reset Branding was recently asked by the Globe and Mail's Paul Attfield to comment on the new positioning strategy of Birks. The following is an excerpt from the article.

After 133 years of selling its fine jewellery out of “intimidating” stores replete with oppressive dark wood, Montreal’s Birks Group Inc. decided to go in a new direction.

So, to coincide with the hiring of current president and chief executive officer Jean-Christophe Bédos three years ago, Birks underwent a comprehensive rebranding campaign. The goals were clear: to become more of an international brand, to revitalize the product lines, and to make the jewellery buying experience a more relaxed event.

The company was also responding to competitors, such as Tiffany & Co., which has grown its Canadian operation in recent years, and De Beers SA, which opened its first Canadian store two years ago.

Birks switched direction and targeted three different consumer segments: Generation X shoppers, affluent millennials and international luxury customers. It was a decision that was long overdue for some who follow the sector.

John Miziolek, President and co-founder of Reset Branding and Executive Producer and Host of Design Masters Canada, was recently interviewed by the Globe and Mail about Canada's national food branding strategy and whether or not it could change the perception of Canada's brand on a global scale.

"A big challenge"

The challenge of developing a popular national brand strategy lies in the fact that Canada’s food products are diverse – everything from apples, to meat to dairy and grain. On top of that, the country’s growers range in size from small family-run growers to massive agribusinesses.

“What we would have to do is create an umbrella strategy that is flexible enough that it can be used regardless of the organization that is part of it,” says John Miziolek, president and co-founder of Oakville, Ont.-based Reset Branding, “because there’s no way you could create one singular brand and hope that it would fit everybody’s needs.”

The solution could be creating smaller brands for each of those diverse products and then to develop an umbrella strategy to encompass the smaller classes, he explains. But he emphasizes that making it mandatory would be the strategy’s death knell.

“Just from a branding and marketing perspective that’s a horrible way to start a brand,” says Mr. Miziolek, “forcing people to comply with rules that they’re not very excited about.”

With the caveat that it would have to be managed well to actually succeed, he says increased recognition in the global food market could lead to more stable and solid revenue for the companies that enroll in a national branding program.

“If done correctly, and all of the organizations and producers were managed properly, we could establish ourselves in the global market place as a high-quality exporter of various types of food products,” says Mr. Miziolek.

New York, NY (June 30, 2015) — Reset Branding has walked off with a trophy-case full of AIVA Communicator Awards, as announced by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts today. The Communicator Awards, based in New York, honors the best in advertising, corporate communications, public relations and branding. This year’s competition received thousands of entries from agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards show of its kind in the world.

John was also recently in Los Angeles where he was selected from 300 other published authors as winner of both the National Academy of Best Selling Author’s Quilly Award — and the award for Author of the Year.

Also, in April, John launched a weekly marketing podcast, Design Masters Canada, where he leads timely, often controversial discussions with prominent marketing leaders from both Canada and the U.S. The Podcast was picked up by iTunes within a week of it’s launch.

Canadian branding expert John Miziolek, President and co-founder of Reset Branding, will be speaking at the CMA's Creative Conference on Thursday, May 7th, 2015. John's speech is called "Magic Sauce and the Death of the Creative Brief". John will focus on establishing standards for the creative brief and revealing new ways of collaborating with your agencies.

At CMAcreative, attendees will spend a day with the leading creative minds in marketing, exploring the standout ideas and newest ways of thinking to help inspire and motivate them to triumph over the challenges that the new purchase journey demands.

From the latest content creation to experiential phenomena to creative thinking and problem-solving, the CMA will gather experts from across the continent to share how they created and deployed imaginative campaigns.

John is the Host and Executive Producer of Design Masters Canada, a podcast committed to elevating the practice of design. He is also an Instructor of Design at Humber College and devotes time to mentoring the next generation of design talent.

From internationally acclaimed branding expert John Miziolek, Founder of Reset Branding and Design in Toronto, business listeners will discover a rousing conversation they won’t find anywhere else. Dynamic, often controversial—this new podcast covers the new, the outlandish, the need-to-know trends in Marketing, Branding and Design.

Presenting listeners the inside track into the tumultuous world of Marketing, Design Masters Canada will bring together today’s most influential leaders in marketing, branding and design into a no-holds-barred discussion with host John Miziolek.

Miziolek, who recently authored a best-selling book on the subject, says, “I was eager to create an immediate, dynamic forum to bring this audience into the latest conversations."